Fairy Tales
by Tempest2004
Summary: Their family has never been a fairy tale. But that doesn't mean, separately, they don't have their own fairy tales. Please R&R! First Young Justice fic.


...Is it wrong that I actually like Sportsmaster? He's such... I dunno... Different character. He trained his daughters extremely well, even took Artemis back after her stint as a hero... Maybe it's just because I'm fan of his voice actor, Nick Chinlund. And too, people have written Lawrence in so many lights in these fanfictions. But there aren't enough of them! So, I make my contribution. XD Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Paula Crock, Lawrence Crock/Sportsmaster, Artemis Crock, Robin and Batman belong to the DC Universe. The referenced fairy tales belongs to whoever owns them.

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Their daughters' fairytale is 'Alice in Wonderland'. Theirs has always been 'Beauty and the Beast'.

Paula has never really been sure who the 'Beauty' is and who the 'Beast' is.

Early in their marriage, the roles had been inter-changeable. Some days she was Beast and he was Beauty.

Most days (and nights) he'd been Beast and she was Beauty.

Then again, there were always times when they were both Beast. That was when they worked. When they were partners and he wasn't indulging his primitive male side and acting protective.

"Paula." he sounded surprised as she rolled up to a table in the empty visitors area. Batman was lurking in the shadows, more at Artemis' insistence than Paula's. Lawrence was a master criminal, yes, but he'd always protected her. It hadn't been _his_ idea for her to take the blame and go to jail. Batman knows this (Paula told him the whole story), but he stays there anyway.

"I take it you weren't expecting me?" she asks lightly, teasingly. She feels 20 again with him. Like she can do anything again. Even walk.

"Of course not. I had expected Artemis or..." he trails off. Artemis had told her that Lawrence had _tried_ to be a father, but that mostly meant careful bandaging of training accidents and making sure no _truly_ severe weather would happen during endurance training. By trailing off, she knew he was referencing their oldest, Jade, named after Paula's mother, that he was trying to protect her, even now. Artemis told her how Jade had left him. Paula couldn't really blame her eldest for that. Neither did Artemis.

"Haven't heard from her in a long time." Paula said evenly. Lawrence's blue eyes, shocking as ever, flickered to a shadow that twitched and he tensed. "Artemis' insistence, not mine." Paula said firmly. He nodded, then glanced at her legs.

"Any signs of life?" he asks after a moment. Paula grins proudly.

"I can wiggle my right big toe a little." she said. Lawrence nods, pleased and approving.

"Still going to physical therapy?" he asked. Paula nodded, shifting her hips slightly. That was another improvement, she could wiggle her hips a little more efficiently now.

"Thank you for paying for that, by the way." she said, smiling. Lawrence smiles and silence lapses between. There is so much both of them want to say and won't, not with Batman standing right there. Old habits die hard. gYou can go now, Batman. I'll be fine.h Paula says. There is a brief pause and Lawrence's temper frays.

"I'm not going to hurt my _wife_." he snarls and there's a quiet _swish_ as the Bat exits the room. They wait until the door is closed before they begin talking again.

**1111111111**

"You left her _alone_ in there with _him_?" Artemis demands somewhat shrilly as Batman steps out.

"She asked me to leave." he said calmly. He's used to temperamental teenagers, after all. He runs a whole _team_ of them. Briefly, Bruce thinks there should be a name for a group of teenagers. Like a Gaggle. Or a Grouping. Or a _pack_.

"Relax, Artemis. Emphasis on the 'lax." Robin said and Artemis rolled her eyes out of habit. Bringing up his holographic computer, Robin tapped into the security cameras in the visitors room.

"Sound?" Artemis asked. Robin's eyes flickered up at Batman. He tilted his head to the side and Robin blinked.

"Nope, sorry." he said and Artemis knew it was a lie, but she wasn't going to push it. She watched intently, waiting for some move by her father that would allow her to go in and hurt him, for hurting her mother. But he didn't. And Paula didn't look like she was afraid. Then again, her mother never did. That was one of the things she and her sister had inherited from their mother. No fear. Her eyes widened as Paula's head was thrown back in a full throated, open mouthed laugh. Lawrence grinned, not maliciously, with no hint of viciousness. Just pleasure at having made his wife laugh at whatever he had said. The conversation went on for so long that Batman finally had to make the two teens go get some rest, promising to watch over the two in the visiting room. After they had left, Artemis under protest, Batman tuned into the A/V feed from the cameras.

**22222222222**

"-League. They can help you!" Paula insisted.

"Like they helped you?" Lawrence said. Paula shook her head.

"If you just gave them a chance-h"she broke off as he got to his feet and started pacing. Paula clamped down on a surge of hope. Pacing meant he was listening, even if he didn't want to. They'd had this conversation almost a million times before. Times when they had both gotten pounded pretty badly on jobs and had barely made it home to their girls. "I never signed them." she offered quietly.

"What?" he asked, stopping to look at her.

"The divorce papers, I never signed them." she repeated. Lawrence stared at her.

"So, legally..." he trailed off. Paula nodded.

"We're still married." she confirmed. He grinned and Paula answered with a grin of her own.

"Does this mean I get conjugal?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Lawrence!" Paula giggled, sounding shocked.

"I had to ask." he said, walking over to kneel in front of her. "I don't know if I can do it, Paula." he said, showing her vulnerability by resting his head on her knee, looking up at her.

"I think you can. There's never been anything you _can't_ do." she said and quirked the corner of her mouth up in a smirk. "Except change a dirty diaper."

"That was _once_. And it was a mess." Lawrence snorted. "Somehow, it makes sense it was Artemis."

"Lawrence, please. Try." she said. The blonde supervillian sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know, Paula. I just don't know." he said, resting his forehead on her thigh. They sat there in silence, Paula absently combing her fingers through his thick blonde hair.

"You know, I find it amazing that Artemis is so like you when she's determined." she said after a while. Lawrence didn't look up. "So stubborn, and so determined. So mouthy too." he chuckled at this. "Our daughter got her drive, her ambition from you. Just like you can do anything, so can she. Even turn her life around from what it was." she said and Lawrence looked up at her. "It won't be easy. It never is. I had six years to come to terms with what I had done. Six years to decide what I was going to do about it."

"You want me in here for six years?" he asked, quirking his lips up.

"I never said that," Paula said primly, then smiled a little. "I will make you a deal." she said as he sat up a little straighter. "I will visit you everyday I can while you're in here and we can take it slow. Maybe I can help you decide if you want to change or not. It's all up to you, Lawrence. I won't try to influence you one way or another-"

"But you will keep hoping that I'll change." he said. Paula nodded and cupped his face in her hands.

"I want you home. I want _my_ _husband_ back." she said. Lawrence closed his eyes as she pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"It's not gonna be easy." he murmured.

"And it's not going to take a single day." Paula murmured back.

"You'll be here?" he said.

"Everyday I can. I'll call when I can't be." she said. Lawrence nodded and glanced at the camera.

"You hear that, Bat? You make sure she gets here safely everyday she can." he said. Batman knew they couldn't see him, but he nodded anyway.

"I do love you, Lawrence." Paula murmured. He grinned and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"I love you too, baby."

**333333333333333333**

"Well, what happened?" Artemis demanded as soon as they got back to the apartment.

"Nothing. I'll be going back to see your father tomorrow." Paula said calmly as she wheeled around the small living room.

"That's great- Wait, what?" Artemis said, jerking around to stare at her mother. Her smiling mother. Her mother who hadn't really smiled like that since... "Oh, god! You... And him... Eww!" Artemis yelled. Paula smirked to herself.

"And you and Wally West haven't?" she tossed back.

"I... We..." Paula glanced back at her daughter to see her blushing bright red.

"It's called being adults. And married." she said and paused. "Do we need to talk about Protection?"

"Mom!"

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Fin


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